Gas producer and process



E. M. BRAxToN. GAS PRODUCER AND PROCESS. APPLIATION FILED NOV,1S, |921.

Patented July 25, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

E. M. BRAXTON.. GAS PRODUCER AND PROCESS.

Patented, July 25, 11922.

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APPLICATION FILED NOV. I8, 192i.

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ELBERT MQBRAXTON, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO MA'BELR. i A i SPELLMAN, OF DALLAS, TEXAS. i

GAS `PRODUCER AND `PROCESS.

T o all w 710m t may concern:

VBeit known that I, ELBERT M. BRAXTON, ai citizen of the 'United States,'residing at Fort Worth, in the county of Tarrant and State of Texas,have invented` certain new and'useful Improvements yin Gas Producers andProcesses, of'which the following is a specification. `Y

VThis invention relates 'to gas producers for the production of gasfromlignite and its by-.products such as creosoteand coal tar, and hasfor one of 'its principal objects the vprovision of a vgas vproducerprovided with a super-heater or means whereby the gas in its first orgreen state of production as it is formed bythe vcombustion ofthelignite, is heated by means of asuper-heater to a very hightemperature'.

AAnother principal obj ect of the invention is in the provision forfeeding the fuel evenly and uniformly upon the fire-bed.` i A furtherobject 'of the` invention `is the provision for the cleaning, coolingand dry# ing of tliefgzg'asv from impurities or extraneous matter,respecially tairy substance orresidue.

Other important features, such as a conical sectional revoluble andremovable grate, auxiliary draft controlling andy steam iiijecting meansfor the fire box, j&c., will be more fu'lly understood *byA reference tothe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings forming part hereof in whichp Figure l is a vertical sectional4view of a gas producing machine constructed in accordance with theinvention. -Figures 2 and 3 are cross-,sectional views of cylinders orytanks containing, respectively, coke and hay by preference, as acleaning and drying means for the gas.

Figure a is a verticaljsectional view taken 'on line 4-1l,` Figurel,lshowing the inventionvin its interiori arrangement as to the hopperand feeding means for the fuel.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view ofthe hopper taken on line 5-p-5 ofFigure l', and Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken i on line 6-6Figure l through the firebox and grate.

'Referring more detail to the drawings, in the' construction andcarrying out of the vinvention, there is provided a base section Yordrum wliiclifoims anash pitv and draft chamber l and'which is providedwith an Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 25d, 1922,.Application filed November 18,:192L Serial No` 516,147.

opening normallyclosed by the usual ash and draftvdoor'Q. l

Within the' draft chamber vandash pit lis an annular flanged support 3resting upon the bracketsI 4:41. The support 3 has'a raised portionorcollar 5 which is provided with ball bearings to support and provide forthe easy rotation of a platform t3. 7This platform as depicted inthedrawingFiguresl and 6, supports a removable sectioned grate" 6'alprojecting upwardr into the re-boX in the form ofa cone and `which willbe readily understood permits the clinkers and such matter as 'does notfall through the grate to rolldown by gravity upon theplatform GA andmay be raked off and into the ash pit l from time to time as the fire isattended to, the doors 7?-7 being provided for this purpose, and clearlyshown in Figuresl andG. The platform 6 carrying the gratea may belrevolved in any inanner, the simplest means and as lshown in Figure l,being by gear 6b and pulley gear 6d mounted upon a short shaft, the gearmeshing with teeth 'onl the undersideof the platpurpose of injectingsteam ork vapor into the fire-bed. Y ySeated uponthe ash pit Iand draftchamber l is anv upright, double-walled drum 8, the/spaced. inner andouter walls of which provide a water space 9 (referred to above) for thepurpose offprotection. 'This drum 8' constitutes the repot andcollection cham-y ber 'ofthe device. f

Depending within the drum 8 and spaced from the inner walls'thereofis aninverted frusto-conical tubular feeder 18a, the lower end vofthewallofzwhich is formed with radially disposed out-struck hoods l0 whichcommunicate with the interior: ofthe tubular feeder. The lower end ofthis feeder terminates just' above the fire bed'and its 'upper end issecured by rivets `or otherwise 'to the annular support'll formed withan a ring 13 seated upon the drum 8 and through which ring the annularsupport 11 projects. y

A tubular container 14 has its lower end threaded into or otherwisesecured to the support 11 and its upper end is formed with a flaringmouth or hopper 15. The container. 14 isprovided with a magazine or fuelmeasure of cylindrical form comprising two sections 16 and 17 arrangedone within the other, the section 17 provided with two openings 18 and19 and section 16 with one opening 20. Section 17 is secured to theinner wall of the container 14 by supports 21 and is open at one end forthe reception of section 16, a bearing 22 being provided in secti'on 17for the axial pin 23 of section 16. The opposite end of section16 of thefuel measure has a small shaft 24 seated in a bearing 25 secured to thehopper 15 and this shaft carries a wheel 26 to rotate the sections insuch a manner as to allow the openings 1S and 2O to register when afresh chargeof fuel is fed onto the grate, the charge being deposited byrotating section 16 to register opening 20 with opening 19 which closesthe opening 18 and deposits the fuel onto the fire bed. This operationmay be performed by hand at certain periods of time or when it isdesired to drop a fresh charge of fuel onto the fire bed.

The container 14 is provided with an annular worm wheel 27 which mesheswith a worm 28 driven by suitable means (not shown) for rotating thecontainer, hopper, and fuel measure. For the sake of clearness, however,it may be added that the container does not rotate continuously, butonly at certain periods required for properly feeding and distributingfuel onto the lfire bed. This periodic rotation is provided by havinglthe shaft 28Ct divided and a clutch mounted on one end of the shaft, andby this means the motive power is connected and disconnected with theworm 28 as required.

One of the principal features of the roduc'er, the super-heater, islocated slig tly above the grate or re bed, and shown at 29 in Figure 1.The super-heater, however, may if preferred be embedded in the fire bedor at any other point where the greatest amount of heat may acty uponit. The super -heater is preferably formed with short, cylindrical endsbetween whichends it is flattened to form a hollow, vertically arrangedweb connecting the ends. Pipes 30 communicate at suitable intervals withtheV interior of the drum 8, near the upper end of said drum, andconverge downwardly about the outside of the drum to take into one endof the super-heater. From the opposite end `of this super-heater 29 apipe 31 is provided forcarrying away the green gas for cleaning andwashing it.

Pipe 31 communicates with an upright vcylindrical tank 32. This tank, acrosssection of which is shown at Figure 2, is

ported upon a perforated grating 33. Be-

low the grating 33 is a space 34 for water` which space communicates bypipe 35 with a trap 36. At the top of the tank is a pipe 37 withk asprayer or distributor 37LL for water. Pipe 31 is providedon its endwith an inverted scalloped edged cup 38 which is suspended in the waterjust far enough to allow gas from the super-heater to escape through thenotches 39 of the scallops. The gas as it passes upward through thecoke, sprayed with the water from pipe 37, is cleaned and washed ofcertain of its impurities to a fairly pure state, such impurities andundesirable matter being caught in the trap 36.

A pipe 40 connects tank 32 with Ia second smallertank 41, and betweenthe pipe 40 and latter tank 41 is interposed a housing 40l in which is ablower. Briefly, the blower is a shaft with a spirally formed blade orblades 40b with a belt pulley F for connection with the source of powerwhich oper- -ates the machine. The purpose of the blower is to pull orsuck the gas from the tank 32, and necessarily from the super-heater 29and connections through pipe 40 into the tank 41 and force the gasoutward through the machine.

Tank 41 is divided into several sections 42 with gratings 43therebetween and provided with doors 44. This tank contains hay oranalogous matter and further cleans and dries the gas.

Connecting the pipe 40 anda pipe 46 (referred to further on) is a valvedby-pass pipe 45. The purpose of the pipe 45 is to provide a means fortaking care of any excess pressure of gas above the normal production oras a regulating means and safety device. Thus, when the gas productionreaches beyond a certain predetermined How or pressure (indicated by agauge not shown) the valve 45, normally closed, will automatically openand the increased or surplus gas will pass back through the neck of pipe46 through the lby-pass pipe 45, thence through pipe 40, blower 4Gb andinto the tank 41 again and will continue this circuitous passage untilnormal pressure is again reached, whereupon the valve 45a will close. Anormal amount of gas, however, has in the meantime continued to pass outthrough pipe'46.

From tank 41 the gas is carried by pipe 46 to a horizontal spirallybladed conveyor 47 in a housing 48, the conveyor being rotated bysuitable power connected to apulley 49. The revolving blades of the conveyor whip the gas thorouUhly dry from any remaining moisture whic fallsinto the trap 50 and is drained off by pipe 51. Moisture from tank 44 isconveyed by pipe 52 to trap 36. Gas ready for use or storage is carriedfrom the housing or cylinder 48 by pipe 53.

In operation, fuel is fed to the container 14 through the hopper 15 andas the fuel is consumed a fresh charge is delivered to the container byrotation of the section 16 of the fuel measure as previously explained.A fire having been started on the grate 6a to ignite the fuel, the worm28 is thrown into gear by the clutch, imparting rotation to thecontainer 14 and to the feeder 8a Fuel will then gravitate from thecontainer 14 to the feeder 8"JL and through the hoods 10 to the firebed. The rotation of the feeder and hoods `will distribute the fuelevenly over the fire bed, or grate which is also rotated at the sametime. The conical upstanding grate will allow the clinkers to roll bygravity upon the platform 6. @wing to the formation and structure of thegrate a better draft is provided than by a horizontal structure, thedraft being further improved by the draft chamber A. The steam pipe E isfor the purpose of injecting steam or vapor through the auxiliary draftchamber A which is designed to improve the quality of the gas.

Gases rising from the lire will be trapped in the upper portion of drum8 from whence they will pass through pipes 30 to the superheater 29.

The intense heat of the super-heater will thoroughly dry the green gasand will gasify any particles of coal tar or creosote which may becontained in the gas and find its way through the pipes into thesuperheater.

From the super-heater 29 the gas is conducted through pipe 31 to tank 32and` passes upward through the water-drenched coke, is cooled andcleaned, the impurities being caught and retained in the trap 36.

From' tank 32 the gas is conducted by pipe 40, drawn by the blowerblades 401, to tank 41 where it is passed through the hay or otheranalogous matter and further cleaned, after which by pipe 46 the gaspasses into the housing or cylinder 48 and whipped7 forced, or hurriedtherethrough in its final stage of purification, cleaning, cooling anddrying, and the pure gas is ready for use ysectioned grate, asuper-heater arranged in the drum in such a manner as to receive themaximum amount of heat from the fire, means for augmenting the draft,means for conducting the gas from the upper portion of the drum to thesuper-heater and means for conducting the gas from the super-heater.

2. A gas producer comprising a drum with a fire box and a retort, awater jacket surrounding the drum, means for feeding fuel to theV drum,a conical grate carried upon and revolvinor with a platform, means forrotating the platform and grate, an auxiliary draft chamber underneaththe grate, a steam pipe connected with the water jacket and extendedinto the auxiliary draft chamber, a super-heater with a restrictedpassage disposed within the drum in such a manner as to receive themaximum amount of heat from the fire; means for conducting gas from thedrum to the super-heater and lne-ans for conducting gas from thesuper-heater to a cleaning, cooling and drying means.

3. A gas producer for producing gas from lignite, including a casing, aconical grate in the casing for receiving the lignite thereon, means torotatably support the grate, means to superheat the gas located directlyabove the apex of the conical grate, means to conduct the gas from thesuperheating means to clean, cool and dry the same, and means foreffecting rotation of the grate in order to maintain the under side ofthe lignite while on the grate and during combustion thereof in asubstantially conical formation. i

4, The herein described process for producing gas from lignite, whichinvolves ignition of a bed of lignite of substantially conev shape onits under side and the constant rotation thereof to form gas,superheating the gas at a point adjacent to the apex of the under sideof the bed, and then in conducting the gas after superheating to becleaned, cooled and dried.

In testimony whereof 1 have signed my name to this specification.

- ELBERT M. BRAXTON.

